Beautiful Darkness
by Pandemic fandom
Summary: A place can change a lot in a thousand years... What will happen when an ancient evil is uncovered, yet there is no Hero to protect the people? Families will be torn asunder by the divide between good and evil, and much blood will be spilled.
1. Attention

**Beautiful Darkness**

Disclaimer: Not mine. Hence I'm posting on a place called 'fanfiction'.

Hope you enjoy. Not beta-read, so may be a few mistakes - feel free to point them out, and I'll try and rectify the situation. Reviews are much appreciated and will be guzzled indulgently.

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_A place can change a lot in a thousand years. Much is gained – technology, knowledge, power… Yet more is lost – purity, innocence, hope – the history of a land rescued by a single green-clad man, known as the Hero of Time._

_However, one thing lost from this golden age is soon to be rediscovered in the new one…without the man in green, can this newly freed evil be suppressed by a Hyrule full of scholars and peaceful farmhands?_

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**Chapter one: Attention**

"…and in the final confrontation with Ganondorf Dragmire, the Hero's fairy, known as Navi, was unable to come to his aid. This is of course because of the power of dark magic, which is known to have an adverse effect on the internal organs of a fairy. Other examples of this effect can be found throughout history…"

_I watched my fairy fall back, and smiled sadly at her. I knew I had to go on alone, and the guilt on her face was unbearable. Gently, I reached out to touch her outstretched hand with my forefinger. However, when I heard the terrible foe making ready to attack (after making jibes of unimportance), I had to turn away from her penitent gaze, and raise my bloodied sword. With my free right hand, I wiped the sweat off my forehead, the gold of my gauntlets glinting in the waning light of day._

"…the ancient texts in the Royal Library lend some insight into the movements and life cycles of fairies from the Kokiri Forest. It appears that Navi was one of the only Kokiri fairies to leave the Forest for any prolonged period of time…"

_The figure before me was lit from behind by the last rays of the sun, making his black armour glint like the wing cases of a giant beetle. I could just make out the cruel smirk on his face, but felt no fear when I caught sight of the princess to the left. She was encased in rose-coloured crystal, her face frozen in shock. Determined to release the wise and rightful ruler of the Kingdom, I parried the enemy's first attack and returned one of my own._

"…it seems that Navi was not the only fairy outside of the Forest. It's believed that another species – the kind often used, even today, in the practice of old medicine – once dwelled in several 'Fairy Fountains' dotted all over the kingdom…"

_A ball of crackling dark magic flew towards me, and with a loud yell, I dove out of the way. The smell of burning reached my nostrils. Looking around, I couldn't detect where the smell was coming from; panicking slightly, I circled my adversary. Curiously, he seemed to have acquired a cigar…the sight was so odd that I paused, giving him just enough time to attack me again-_

"And if Miss. Xavier would care to stop staring out of the window, perhaps she'd like to contribute to the ancient history of fairy habits?" I started, and nearly tipped backwards off my chair at finding myself face to face with my history professor. He didn't look best pleased, and dragged heavily on his cigarette, making the ash drop onto my desk. Carefully, I rocked forwards so that all four legs of my chair were on the floor, and then smiled as best I could, racking my brains for an interesting fact. "Well?" Professor White urged.

"Urm…well…although fairies from these 'Fountains' seem to have healing properties, there are no records of Forest Fairies being able to heal, sir." I flushed, and stared at my desk, hoping that I'd remembered what I'd read in the textbook correctly. Professor White sighed, and stood up straight from leaning on my desk.

"Miss. Xavier, if you ever actually paid attention in my lessons, you could be brilliant. See me after class."

"Yes sir." Internally, I cursed – it looked like I was going to be yelled at again…

Damien, (the veritable sexiest guy in the class), leant back on his chair, and muttered, "Good save Ver." As usual, I went all girly at this point (he had this great way of rolling the 'r' at the end of my nickname), and just giggled,

"Thanks!" At a glare from the professor, we both hurriedly began copying the notes he was scribbling on the whiteboard. At every squeak of the board marker, I flinched, the noise hurting my ears – I'd forgotten my sound-mufflers again. Mind you…I did that quite a lot…they were just so bulky and embarrassing…

_The Gerudo man tapped the ash from his cigar, and paused in his attack. An amused grin crossed his face, and he gestured towards my ears. "What the Trio are those ridiculous things for?" he chuckled slightly. I reached up self-consciously, and removed the bright red clip on mufflers, having the feeling that my face was much the same colour. Angrily, I pocketed them, deciding I cared more about being taken seriously than protecting my ears at that point._

The bell cut through my daydreaming about being taunted by the ancient villain, Ganondorf Dragmire. (It sounds weird that I daydream about this kind of stuff, but, well, with a family like mine, I suppose it's not _that_ surprising…) Damien hurriedly swept all of his books, notes and stationery into his bag – I did the same, only a much slower pace. This was mostly due to the fact that I had to stay behind…but I did have ulterior motives (as always!) Remaining seated, I was able to catch a fabulous view of his arse as he stood up, followed by a fantastic profile as he looked over his shoulder at me (at which point, I guiltily looked away from his backside in order to focus on his face.)

"It all right if I bring in the notes tomorrow for you to check over in your frees?"

"Huh?" I knew I sounded like an idiot, and wished that I'd been able to stop my mind wandering, just so I knew what he was on about. Thankfully, he just laughed, and turned around fully, ignoring his friends as they headed out of the classroom.

"Sometimes I wonder how you got so clever, the way your mind wanders." I frowned and flushed at being called clever, and murmured,

"Nah, I'm not-"

"Bollocks you're not!" he contested, ducking down and leaning on my desk. "I'm talking about the presentation we have to do on ancient Sheikah history – just my luck to get the only person in the class to have a mountain of books about it." He beamed and tucked a few awry strands of black hair behind his pointed ear.

It suddenly clicked what he was talking about, and I grinned sheepishly, remembering just how many of my parents' history books I'd leant him to do the research on Sheikah roles in Royal Hylian history. We'd been paired up a couple of weeks ago, and each pair given a different topic to research about and make a presentation for, so I'd been lucky to get Sheikah history. (Very appropriate, considering I'm the only Sheikah in the class.) All this flashed through my mind in a moment, and I formulated an answer. "Urm, yeah, sure – I've done an A2 presentation on religious symbols and the Eye of Truth, as well as a factfile on the famous Sheik. Did you manage to get some good stuff out of the books?"

"Yeah!" he answered enthusiastically, and I was ingratiated to see his eyes light up in joy at the thought of history – I loved history after the way my parents went on about it, so seeing someone else with the same passion for the subject was always great! "It was hard to actually cut down my notes, there was so much info – must be grand having your own library at home."

"It's pretty good, yeah. Just glad they were useful! D'you want to meet up in the common room after school as well so we can put the presentation together?"

"Sorry, I can't, I have fencing."

"Oh yeah, should have remembered that…"

"Eh, you can't remember everything," he shrugged.

There was a loud cough from the front of the class, and I realised that all the other students had now gone. Professor White was stubbing out his cigarette, and I knew by his face that I was about to be sternly told off. Damien pulled a face at me, nodding minutely to our professor. "Good luck," he whispered, then added loudly, "Well, I'll give you the notes tomorrow morning then. See ya!"

"See ya."

And with that, he swept his bag off the floor, and hurried out of the classroom – just before the door swung closed, I saw one of his friends pounce on him, obviously to ask a question. But then the door drifted shut, and I was left alone with a man who looked as scary as I always imagined Ganondorf Dragmire would be…

After the quiet click of the door, there were a few seconds of tense silence. Then, Professor White inhaled deeply, dropped his cigarette stub into his ashtray, and stood up. I nervously shuffled the paper on my desk, waiting for the shouting tirade to begin – I'd been getting into a lot of trouble about drifting off in lessons recently. The professors were all getting really edgy this close to exams, so I suppose it was only to be expected.

When he spoke, however, his voice was quiet. "Miss. Xavier, I know that you may well find these lessons boring, considering how advanced your knowledge is due to your parents, but I cannot have you daydreaming during my lessons. Now, your last essay," he picked up his mark book from where he had put it down on the desk he was perched on. He scanned down to find my name. "Your last essay was only 60, and I know you can do better. However, if you don't pay attention, the exams are going to prove very difficultfor you, you realise that, don't you?" I gulped and nodded guiltily.

"Yes sir – sorry."

"It's all well and good being sorry, but if your marks continue to slide, then I'm going to have to contact your parents." I nodded again. "OK. Just make sure that presentation of yours is excellent, and I suppose I'll forgive you," he smiled kindly, and slipped off the desk in front of me. "Off you go." As soon as he said that, I launched myself out of my seat and hurriedly packed my things away. On the way out of the classroom, I nodded farewell to my professor, and stepped out into the hall, which was already empty. People always seemed to be in such a hurry to get home at the end of the day…

As usual, I was in no hurry at all. I didn't particularly fancy putting up with the twins (who had finished school already for the preparation running up to Linkmas (the celebration of the birthday of the Hero of Time)), whereas the rest of us in normal school had another two weeks to go…

To explain, the twins are Nabooru and Xenia – the daughters of Valerie and James, the family I'm staying with whilst my parents are away. They're archaeologists you see…and there's this big dig in the desert, so they're away for a while. I would have stayed home, but Sheik (my big brother), who normally looks after me when mum and dad are away, got a job in a lab in the Hylia province, so…I was dumped on my parents' friends… They're all right really – especially Valerie – probably the only Gerudo who doesn't bully me for being a Sheikah. James (her husband; a Hylian) is OK too, if a bit quiet. But the twins are just – eurgh – too 'popular' for my taste, I suppose. Being a geek and all that…

Anyway, being in no hurry to get home allowed me the pleasure of meandering through the empty halls, my ears blissfully safe from the usual shrieks and yells that the other students made when going in between classes. Sometimes, I almost thought the embarrassment of wearing mufflers was less than the pain caused to my ears by all this noise…but not often! Sheik would of course be annoyed that I don't wear them as often as I should…but what he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?

Walking past the drinks machine reminded me that I was thirsty, so I paused in front of it, dropping my bag onto the floor so that I could fish around in my pockets for change. After digging around in my right pocket, I finally settled on a round object. Expectantly, I pulled it out – alas, it was only a button! I tried the left, and came up blank. "Damn…" I muttered, before looking left and right along the corridor. Seeing that no one was about, I stepped up to the machine, putting my hand over the glowing price screen.

After another furtive look around, I looked at the splayed fingers of my hand. Guilt briefly shot through me, though it was soon replaced with the thought that it was the school's fault for not magic-proofing the machines. So, I closed my eyes, and searched around for the appropriate spell. When I found it, I grinned, and opened my eyes again.

"Wouldn't be magicking cans out of the machine, would you Ver?" I jumped about a mile, and whirled around to confront Celia.

"Bloody hell, you nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you were a teacher!" I stretched out my arms and embraced my half-Zoran friend. "Have fun in art?" I snorted, pulling my hands away to find them covered in yellow paint. She just turned around to show a yellow smiley face smeared across the back of her overalls. Then, she slyly asked,

"Can you get me a can?"

"I suppose so," I sighed dramatically, before muttering the spell quickly, twice under my breath.

The machine whirred and dispensed two cans. Celia stooped down to pick them up, "Oh, they're both lemonade – I wanted coke!"

"Yeah, well this isn't an exact science you know!" I grinned, taking the can she offered, and then picking up my bag.

"Meh, I guess free is free," she conceded, cracking open her drink and falling into stride next to me. "You still up to help me with the multicultural project?" she asked wheedlingly and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yes, I stupidly agreed to help, remember?"

"Just checkin'…" We walked along in silence for a little, sipping our drinks. It was only when we came to an intersection in the corridor that we found the need to speak again.

"So what's the plan for this evening?" Celia asked, running a hand through her bristly hair (blue).

"Urm…dunno…the club?"

"Nah, that place is getting boring."

"Well, do you have any ideas?"

"Nothing other than going to the rink to watch Damien," she nudged me in the ribs, nearly making me spill my drink.

"Watch it!" I exclaimed, hoping my flushed face looked like a result of anger, rather than embarrassment.

"Sorry…so…?"

"So what?" I played dumb.

"Do you want to go to the rink?" Celia asked impatiently, hand on hip.

"Urm…"

"Look, you know you want to!"

"Well, all right, but not for too long – I need to put the finishing touches to my half of the history project."

"You two are made for each other – history geeks together, how sweet!" I just glared at my blue skinned friend, and then burst into a fit of giggles at the mock scared expression on her face.

"Well, before we go, this history geek needs to go home and collect her sound-mufflers," I pointed a thumb at my own chest. "You know how loud the rink is."

"Yes, I do…which is why I have these…tada!" with a flourish, she withdrew a pair of super-sleek black sound-mufflers from her large front pocket on her overalls. My eyes widened as she shoved them into my hands. "No need to thank me – they came free with my new stereo," she winked, and then started walking again. I hurried to catch up with her, putting the mufflers in.

A thought suddenly struck me. "You had this planned all along, didn't you?" She looked guiltily at the ceiling, smirked, and nodded rigorously.

"If you hadn't gotten yourself into trouble, we might have been able to tag along with Damien himself."

"You devious creature!"

"Well, I do try," she preened, making me laugh once more.

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OK, a brief explanation of 'sound-mufflers' for you all. Basically, as Sheikah hearing is so sensitive, it can't really handle the loud noises of modern day life very well, so most of the Sheikah have these 'sound-mufflers'. Ear plugs, if you will. Imagine a pair of those headphones that you can clip over your ears, but without the band of plastic that goes around the back of your head. That's pretty much what 'sound-mufflers' would look like. Understandably, younger Sheikah would probably find these contraptions embarassing and cumbersome, so wouldn't wear them as often as perhaps they should.

...click the pretty review button por favor.


	2. Breakthrough

**Beautiful Darkness**

_Disclaimer: Same as last chapter, and not likely to change unless I somehow hit it big on the stock-market or something._

_(Shadow's parents at the archaelogical dig in the desert.)_

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**Chapter two: Breakthrough**

"Natasha, hun, you got the spare batteries?" a tall Sheikah man queried, peering through the open flaps of the field tent. Within, a short-haired woman in shorts and teeshirt could be seen shoving various supplies into a large backpack. She paused, and flicked her red eyes up to meet those of the man, grinning wearily.

"'course I do love. Just putting in some more bags to seal findings in."

"Well, make it quick," the man looked over his shoulder at the sound of a car horn, and then back at the woman with a quirked eyebrow, "I think they're getting impatient."

"Really, I would never have guessed," Natasha quipped dryly, heaving the bulging backpack onto her shoulders. "Ready."

"Good – let's go," there was a note of edgy excitement in the man's voice, and she shook her head in amusement.

"Really, Vince Xavier, you'd think this was you're first dig, you're that excited," she declared, walking out of the tent past him. He quickly drew the flaps closed with the zip and retorted,

"Well, come on, when was the last time we found something as big as this? For all we know, the temple might still be intact!"

"I know love…just don't get your hopes up too much, eh?" she touched his arm, and he nodded.

"Yeah – it's just hard not to be excited though!"

"_Adorable _as this exchange is," their half-Zora, half-Gerudo driver bellowed, "we need to get going! I want to make the best use of daylight as possible." Already, the first rays of the sun could be seen peeking over the eastern horizon of the Great Desert. The two Sheikah obediently left the tent and hurried over to the jeep, where their two Hylian understudies were already waiting anxiously. The taller of the two stood up when he saw them approach, and helped Natasha hoist the heavy backpack into the trailer, before pulling her up as well.

"Thanks Aghanim," she said, making the Hylian flush with pride. He still couldn't believe his luck at being chosen by the Xaviers themselves for this dig!

"Gee, thanks for the help," Vince muttered sarcastically as he too clambered into the jeep.

Before he even had time to sit down, the engines roared into life, and he was nearly thrown straight back out of the jeep as it sped off across the sand, towards the dig. "Luto!" he exclaimed, his grip on the overhead bars so tight that his knuckles were turning white. The driver just waved one hand carelessly through the back window, and sped up. Gingerly, and silently cursing his grumpy friend, Vince collapsed gracelessly into the seat opposite his wife, who was struggling to keep a straight face.

"All right Vince?" the other Hylian student asked. Vince didn't answer, instead moodily studying his fingernails, which were (as usual) engrained with dirt. Such was the lot of an archaeologist… On seeing the abashed expression of the young man, Natasha murmured into his ear,

"Don't worry, he's always this grumpy in the mornings. Wait a couple of hours, then he's an angel." The student nodded, smiling uncertainly at Aghanim opposite, who returned an easy smile of his own.

The rest of the journey passed by in a slightly uneasy silence (only broken when Luto pretended to be lost, resulting in a panic attack on Vince's part, and hysterics all round). The sun rose higher in the desert sky, and the day began to heat up. The two Sheikah donned sunglasses to protect their sensitive eyes, and the Hylians ended up unbuttoning the collars of their neatly pressed shirts as the heat became too much.

Finally, after a bumpy forty-five minute drive, the jeep started to slow. Ahead, a deep trench (protected by tarpaulin and cordoned off) could be seen, as well as the tent outpost the Xaviers had left on their original trip to the site. The sheer volume of findings had meant they needed to call in reinforcements – hence, they'd grabbed the two best students they could find, and hurried back with more equipment and doubled enthusiasm.

Luto switched off the engine, and twisted round in the diver's seat to pierce the other four with an anxious look. "Well, here we are," she attempted to be jovial, but the prospect of a huge, career changing find constricted her throat. They understood her meaning though. Without further ado, the five disembarked from the vehicle, dragging equipment and supplies with them as they went. These were all dropped inside the tent, which provided welcome relief from the sun's burning heat.

Each person picked up their usual tools, and nodded at Natasha's orders to, "drink a lot of water. I don't want anyone getting dehydrated so we have to waste time at a hospital." Then, as a unit, they exited the tent, and one by one made their way down the treacherous slope to the bottom of the trench. Natasha went to the very end, and the rest took up places at regular intervals until the other end, so that each digger was responsible for the same area of ground. Luto readjusted the minidisk player at her belt, and fed one wire into her round left ear, the music blaring audibly.

The two Hylians (who were working next to one another) shared a radio, tuning it into a music station, which, though crackly, was at least discernable. Natasha listened in to their radio, but didn't pay it much heed, instead grinning as she heard Vince humming to himself all the way at the other end. As a well-oiled machine, they began to dig, dust and discover. Each find was placed in its own plastic bag, and sealed away.

The discoveries of the morning were mostly small – money, pieces of pottery and the like. However, some interesting things were found and exclaimed over, including a fully intact ancient scimitar – the hilt of the weapon was inlaid with roughly hewn precious stones, and the blade, though rusted beyond repair, still showed a skilled hand. Matt (the second of the Hylian students), who had made the find, was proud when he had to ask Natasha for one of her larger bags to store the find in.

"Bravo!" she exclaimed, joining the others to examine the piece.

"A fantastic example of ancient Gerudo workmanship," Vince breathed, delicately picking up the weapon to study it more closely. "See the snake carved into the blade?" they all leaned in closer to see what he meant.

"Oh yeah," Aghanim nodded, then ventured, "do you suppose it had any significance as a symbol?"

"Not sure – Luto's the one for symbols," they looked to the red-head, only to find that she had both headphones in and wasn't listening. "OI!" Vince tugged a headphone out. She scowled, and Aghanim cowered slightly as he asked his question again.

"Urm, I was just wondering what significance the snake on the blade had?"

"Here, let me see…hrm…I'd say it's a late Harkinian, maybe earlyZelda period piece. The snake is probably used to represent the strength of the wielder, though it could also have been used to show that this weapon was laced with poison. That was a favourite trick of the Gerudo during the holy wars during the reign of Ganondorf. I'd have to examine it for traces to be sure though…" She smiled smugly at the stunned look on the faces of the two Hylians. The Xaviers, used to her extensive knowledge, just nodded in interest.

"Well, let's bag it up for the lab and get back to work then, eh?" Matt suggested, and the others heartily agreed.

It was late in the day when Natasha hit upon something big. She had called upon her magic in order to shift about a foot of topsoil in her area (this was just after they'd finished their lunch), and had hit upon what looked to be a statue of some sort. With the help of the other four, she'd managed to uncover over half of the thing, and Luto voiced what they'd all been thinking. "This is a statue of a Gerudo…what if it's a mark of the Spirit Temple?"

"Could be…" Natasha nodded, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"What was that?" Vince asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" she asked, sounding tired rather than annoyed.

"Did you just say something _optimistic_ regarding a _dig_?" he mockingly gasped, before throwing an arm over her shoulder and whispering in her ear, "This means you're almost entirely sure we've found the temple…doesn't it?"

"Perhaps," she muttered, shrugging his arm off, and picking up her digging tools.

"We'll find out what it is we've found tomorrow – bright and early so we get good li-" A loud rumbling sound cut her off, and all five archaeologists felt the ground tremor momentarily beneath their feet. "Out of the trench," the Sheikah woman ordered, her voice level.

"Love, we can't go now – we're so close – this thing is supposed to be over the entrance-" Vince implored.

"No."

"Just a few more feet down!"

"Matt, Aghanim, if my _stupid_ husband doesn't move from this trench in the next three seconds, please _make _him move," Natasha ordered, sounding thoroughly worn-out. Vince just scowled, knowing he was beaten (yet again). First she'd gained her doctorate before him, and now she insisted on making him look foolish in front of the rest of the team.

"I'm quite capable, thank you, _darling,_" he hissed in Sheikan, turning on his heel and stalking off towards the slope out of the trench. The two Hylians quickly followed the male half of the famous Xavier duo, leaving the two women behind. Natasha looked down at the half-uncovered statue and sighed wistfully. Luto put her hand on the Sheikah's shoulder, the ring of blue scales around her tanned wrist glinting in the waning sunlight.

"C'mon, you know Vince – he's impatient – one of the many reasons you love him, remember?" The Sheikah woman just snorted and turned away from the statue. "It's been buried for a thousand years or more; it can wait a few more hours," the half-Zora, half-Gerudo pointed out wisely.

"I know – I just wish he'd remember that!" Frowning slightly, Natasha shaded her eyes from the sun with her left hand, and looked up to the top of the trench, where the other three were waiting outside the field tent. "Come on then," she said, beginning to make her way towards the edge of the trench.

_Crack._

"What the-?" the famous archaeologist and explorer stopped dead in her tracks, and looked at the dry desert floor. A myriad of minuscule cracks radiated across the ground, circling where she'd placed her foot. "Don't move!" she warned her colleague, who wobbled slightly, having already picked up one foot to start walking. "Just…go slowly…carefully does it…" she muttered, staring at the cracks, which were, to her dismay, steadily growing.

"What's the hold up?" Vince yelled, petulance clear in his voice.

"Now's not the time love!" Natasha answered. Her husband immediately picked up on the panic in her voice.

"What is it?" from the corner of her eye, the Sheikah woman saw him start to move back towards the trench.

"Stay where you are! The ground's unstable…it could collapse."

"Ah."

Natasha smiled wanly at her husband's expression. "See if you can get some rope or something. Just in case this does collapse."

_Rumble._

"That doesn't sound good," Luto commented, wind milling her arms in order to stay balanced on one leg. The Sheikah silently agreed, as her right foot actually began to sink downwards – panicking, she lifted it up, and the ground where she'd previously stood crumbled away. There were a few seconds of silence, and then a loud clatter as the rubble hit whatever floor was down below. "Perhaps we should run?"

"Sounds like a good idea – come on!" the Sheikah grabbed her colleague's hand, wary of the hole that was growing larger by the second. "You ready?"

"Ready for wh-argh!" Luto screeched as Natasha launched into a full-scale Sheikah leap, aiming for the other side of the hole, and the way out of the trench. However, just after they left the ground, the ground on the other side of the hole was no longer there! "Oh crap!" the half-Zora, half-Gerudo shrieked, flailing uselessly in the air in some vain attempt to keep the both of them aloft. She screamed as they fell, but the other was silent.

"Catch this!" Vince bellowed, at the same time nodding to the two Hylian students to brace themselves. Each was holding onto the rope, and as it sailed through the air towards the two falling women, the Sheikah man wrapped it a few times around each hand, and got ready to take their weight.

"Rope!" Natasha reached out with the hand that wasn't holding onto Luto, and managed to coax the end of the rope towards her with some quick, half-formed magic. "Here, Luto, grab hold of me with both hands!" she called down to the other woman, who obediently swung her other arm up to wrap around the Sheikah's small waist.

A few more seconds of free-fall passed, in which the two tumbling through the air contemplated all the things they had yet to do with their lives…

Then there was a _snap_, and the rope went taut. Natasha winced as her shoulders took the strain of not only her own weight, but that of the other woman as well. The three men on the ridge above slipped slightly on the sand, but managed to regain their footing quickly enough. "Hun?" Vince ventured, straining to keep his hold firm. "Hun, are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," she called back, stuttering slightly as she realised she was indeed still alive! "Just… Never let that happen again." Luto laughed, the sound slightly muffled as her face was pressed into the Sheikah woman's lower back. "Pull us up?"

"You heard her boys – let's get them up here."

"Uh, sir…?" Matt began, as another tremor ran through the ground. He looked at the ground, which seemed to be shaking. Aghanim looked down as well, and his eyes widened as he saw something burrowing just beneath the sand, headed straight towards them.

"What in Din's name is that?" Vince gasped. The burrowing _thing_ continued on towards them, and the three men grunted as they tried to bring in the length of rope. However, whatever it was beneath the sand seemed to have other ideas. It butted into Matt's leg, making him fall backwards onto the sand – this also happened to Aghanim, leaving only the Sheikah man holding onto the rope. He began to slide towards the gaping chasm in the desert floor. "Help!" he hissed – Aghanim launched himself at the other man, and wrapped both arms around his legs, effectively stopping him.

"It's coming back!" Matt hissed, clambering to his feet as quickly as he could – yet, the floor was still writhing beneath their feet, the sand shifting without any wind whatsoever. "Here, give me some of the rope again!"

Below, the two women cringed as the rope suddenly went slack, and then tightened again. They began to spin around on the end of the line, and Natasha looked skywards fearfully. "What are they playing at?" she mused aloud. Then, she added in a loud shout, "Hey, pull us up will you!"

"Trying hun, believe us, we're trying! Just – uh – hang in there!"

"There's not much else we can do, is there?" she commented dryly, making Luto laugh again.

Up above, the burrowing creature had been joined by a few more of the same ilk. "Quick, quick!" Aghanim urged, still holding onto Vince's legs. He began to crawl backwards, dragging the Sheikah man with him. Matt helped also, dragging on the rope. Gritting their teeth, all three men withstood assaults on their legs, swaying but not actually falling. From his spot on the ground, Aghanim was even able to bat a few of them away with his hands.

"OW!" At least, he could, until one of them bit him. He stopped moving, but Vince attempted to continue walking backwards – the archaeologist tripped, and let go of the rope, leaving only Matt. And, well, being a scrawny adolescent student, there wasn't much hope of his holding onto a rope that carried the weight of two, fully grown women. With a high-pitched shriek of terror, he, and the rope, went flying downwards.

"NO!" Vince launched himself after the boy, but was brought back to the sand when the remaining Hylian tackled him midair. "Get off me Hylian!" he snarled in Sheikan. The student replied calmly in the same language (though with an atrocious accent),

"They're gone." He sounded disbelieving, and looked with wide eyes at the gaping hole in the desert floor. Dazedly, he rolled off of Vince and crawled towards the edge of what had been an archaeological dig. Looking down, he could scarce believe his eyes. "Vince."

"What," the other grunted, looking up at the reddening sky with disinterest. (_My wife has just fallen into a pit in the middle of the desert – quite likely to her death. Leave me alone, you bloody Hylian.)_

"Sir, come here, you're _not_ going to _believe_ this." With another grunt, the Sheikah man rolled onto his belly, and then crawled to join the Hylian at the edge of the hole. He looked down, and felt his jaw drop at what he saw. Then, with a lop-sided grin, he muttered,

"I was right. The Temple." He scrambled to his feet, and went over to the field-tent, dodging the burrowing sand-creatures as he did so. "It's the bloody Spirit Temple!" he bellowed, his voice echoing from the dunes.

* * *

_And the fun is only just beginning..._


End file.
